1:15 empieza el taller de tambores...
The drum lesson begins at 1:15....
This is the drum pattern Abou is teaching this boy. The lesson also includes an intro call and "break" sequence, as well as a very easy second drum pattern.
r r r r r
B | OO- O-B O-O O-B | <-- This line is the drum pattern!
l l l l
| 1ea 2ea 3ea 4ea |
"B" is a Bass stroke in the center. (O)pen tone is near the edge. The hands are indicated r(ight) or (l)eft. And you have the video for reference.
The call and "break" sequence also will be given in typed notation. Anyway, most drummers probably already know the first call, since it is a very ubiquitous one. There should be very little trouble with getting the complete sequence...
After discussing how to read the typed notation & what kind of musical cycle it represents, I'll deal with the entire drum lesson.
This is the call and "break" sequence...
The call and "break" sequence also will be given in typed notation. Anyway, most drummers probably already know the first call, since it is a very ubiquitous one. There should be very little trouble with getting the complete sequence...
------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- -------
After discussing how to read the typed notation & what kind of musical cycle it represents, I'll deal with the entire drum lesson.
------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- -------
The parts all fit within a (12/8) compound quadruple scheme, in other words four groups of three pulses per cycle, which is to say: twelve eighth notes in total.
1ea 2ea 3ea 4ea
(But in order to fully quantize the initial drum call, you'll need to use 16th notes, too, in other words 24 smaller pulses. This is a killer mathematical exercise for those who don't speak the jargon, hahaha. It makes no sense on its face, because none of the fractions seem to relate to each other or to create anything complete. We're calling them 8th's or 16th's but a single cycle has 12 or 24 of them, what?!?! Don't worry about it: that's why I put it in visual form, too.)
------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- -------
NOTATING THE INTRO CALL & UNISON "BREAK" FIGURE WILL REQUIRE TWO SPECIAL SYMBOLS. THESE WON'T BE NEEDED LATER, BECAUSE THE BASIC SUPPORT DRUM OSTINATO PATTERNS ARE MUCH MORE STRAIGHTFORWARD... The handwritten notation is actually much easier to read vs. the typed notation, in this instance(!)
I'll follow the example of Paul Nas (http://www.paulnas.eu/wap/legenden.html), and use the symbol "2" to represent two 16th note open tones played in the span of a single eighth note. Of course that messes-up my ability to write r(ight) or l(eft) hand concurrent with the drum strokes! Anyway, these double-things are played Right-to-Left.
Note that the slap flams (F) in the response are played closer together than the "roulement" (as Paul Nas calls it) from the call. All of the boys play their flams left-to-right, but Abou plays his right-to-left.
The boy with the highest of the 3 "drums" (tin cans) is the one who plays the calls. After making the first call, we see that he also plays at least the first two slap flams (of the four total slap flams played for this response), thus providing an additional cue and reinforcement for the other boys. The subsequent, shorter calls are just shortened versions of the initial call.
THE CALL and RESPONSE "INTRO BREAK" begins at 1:15
CALL:
1ea 2ea 3ea 4ea
2rl rl- rl- r--
ANSWERED BY:
1ea 2ea 3ea 4ea
F-F --- F-F ---
SECOND CALL:
1ea 2ea
2rl r--
ANSWERED BY
3ea 4ea 1ea 2ea
F-F --- F-F ---
AND AGAIN, THIRD CALL is same as the second:
3ea 4ea
2rl r--
Notice that whereas the first call and first response are each four beats long, the second call is only two beats long. So the second response, which is four beats long, will cross against the underlying meter... until another two-beats-long call gets everything back in alignment. This crossing effect is part of the fun and excitement of this initial "break" figure.
------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- -------
The difficult drum pattern is pitched in the middle, between the higher calling drum and the other support drum (which is lowest of the three tin-can-drums heard in this brief excerpt, although obviously there are many other boys sitting there, and the complete arrangement clearly utilizes many more patterns.)
It begins with an eighth note pickup, voiced as a bass stroke. This is hard for many of us to hear, since we are used to bass always coming on the beat, and rarely being syncopated.
The pattern is played by Abou first this way, at 1:35,
r r r r
B | OO- O-B O-B O-B |
l l l l l
This is almost 100% a basic "shuffle beat" pattern, except where Abou's left hand hits a little earlier than expected, near the beginning of the bar. Such simple means are used to create such an interesting overall effect!
The second time, at 1:51, Abou changes the pattern slightly. Notice that the next-to-last stroke with the left hand is now an open tone rather than a bass stroke:
r r r r
B | OO- O-B O-O O-B |
l l l l l
The young boy successfully plays this version, although he reverses the handing (he's just mirroring Abou), and thus begins on his right side, like this:
4ea | 1ea 2ea 3ea 4ea |
r r r r r
B | OO- O-B O-O O-B | <-- This line is the drum pattern!
l l l l
| 1ea 2ea 3ea 4ea |
NOTE that the boy's left hand is just playing open tones on the main beat: very easy! Also, his right hand is simply alternating between bass (center) and tone (near the rim), which again makes playing the pattern much easier than it seems!
Notice the timing of where the right hand hits during the first versus third beats, because this is pretty much the only tricky part. This little detail gives the overall pattern its polarity, in other words, the feeling of call-and-response between each half. When the boy begins (incorrectly) the second time, he's beginning it on the back half instead of the front half... Actually, the very first time he starts playing, I can't tell what the problem is? He seems to be exactly in synch with the rhythm Abou is speaking? Any ideas?
Eventually, at 2:11, Abou claps this pattern while his pupil plays the drum. It begins with a pickup:
4ea | 1ea 2ea 3ea 4ea | 1ea 2ea 3ea 4ea
X | -X- x-X --X x-X | -X- x-X
Abou only plays one full bar of the pattern (plus the beginning pickup and also half a bar at the end) and then he seems satisfied that the boy has learned the drum part, and Abou moves on.
It seems like when Abou claps on the 2nd and 4th beats, he uses more of his right-hand fingers into his left-hand palm, producing a less intense clap versus all the other claps (where palm meets palm, for a more powerful sound.) It is subtle, but if I'm right, it would be an interesting detail. For that reason, I represented those particular claps with small x's.
In any case, Abou is clapping every time his pupil's right hand strikes the drum, plus claps on the 2nd and 4th beats. Abou's resultant clapping pattern is almost exactly an **offbeat-6 cross rhythm**, where six claps fit within a span of four beats, and align with the 2nd and 4th of those beats.
1ea 2ea 3ea 4ea
.*. *.* .*. *.*
While we might be used to thinking of "triplets" always aligning with one and three, that is only one of two possibilities within this particular metrical scheme. As written in the example above, you can accent either the "." or the "*" and thus achieve either an on-beat feel or an off-beat feel. See this link for much more detailed information on the techniques of cross-rhythm, written by the teacher, performer and theorist who pioneered this analytical model: http://home.comcast.net/~dzinyaladzekpo/PrinciplesFr.html
Therefore, the drum pattern along with which Abou was clapping contains both a "shuffle" element and also an element of "6-against-4" cross rhythm. This is not a contradiction: the two rhythmic concepts are interwoven within a pattern that is multivalent rather than one-dimensional. This gives it its power! And once you combine it with the other, lower-pitched djembe (tin can) pattern, further metrical ambiguity and rhythmic interest is created. The result is a very musical and compelling groove!
AND NOW THE SECOND SUPPORT DRUM PATTERN
Played at 2:19, the other, lower djembe (tin can) support part is:
1ea 2ea 3ea 4ea
r r r r
S-- SOO S-- SOO
l l l l
When the second boy begins the pattern, he starts with the single slap (on the ONE) using his right hand, and then very quickly uses the left hand to "close the mouth of the drum," as CK Ladzekpo would say. But then upon repeating, he plays it as I have written: using all open slaps, beginning with the left, and not "closing the mouth" with the free hand. That was a detail he used only on initiating the pattern, and it gives some extra emphasis to the ONE. It helps solidly ground everything, and makes that initial slap more crisp, in order to start the rhythm more authoritatively.
Notice that the second drum pattern's slaps reinforce the main beats, as do the previous drum's left hand open tones. Further analyzing the interaction between both drums, we realize that the combined open tones create a lovely little melody. I'll use 'o' vs. 'O' to represent the open tones from each of the two drums.
1ea 2ea 3ea 4ea
--- --- --- ---
oo. o.. o.o o..
... .OO ... .OO
=D
------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- -------
Hopefully now you have everything you need: all the necessary details to actually try this intro break & the rhythms with your friends! If anyone has some idea as to what dance they are playing, I'd love to know. Maybe if this beautiful clip gets better known, eventually the some additional footage from the complete lesson will get released, whether in another project, or just on Youtube?
Thanks for reading...
=)
